(BL) Hunting The Field Guide-Chapter 415: A man just trying to get along with his in-laws

Rhys was doing his best. Trying to be the perfect son in law, and in doing so was making everyone else laugh. Genuinely, not faking it, kind of laughter.

He tried everything, Kellen would give him credit for that. Bless his heart, but he looked positively ill after trying some of the food Kellen made. Everyone told him he didn’t need to, but Rhys wouldn’t hear it.

Even as he politely spit everything into a napkin Kellen provided for him.

This was truly the first time Rhys hadn’t liked something that Kellen had cooked, and he looked horrified at that realisation, while Kellen just found it amusing. Kellen had a feeling that Rhys was having a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that Kellen’s Dad was more of a carnivore than he thought.

It was Kellen’s Mom who made sure that Kellen and his sister ate balanced diets, since his Dad would have just served them meat if he had it his way. Not without sides or anything like that, he wasn’t going to neglect their nutrition. He just liked...meat more. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Kellen supported Rhys through his display of loyalty, of course. Making sure that he was able to whip up a nice, full of fruit and flavour salad to cleanse his palate and when Rhys finally tossed in the towel, Kellen brought it over like a reward for him. It was full of lettuce and berries, crunchy, flavourful granola, a little bit of crumbled feta cheese and a nice orange vinaigrette.

Rhys looked up at Kellen with tears in his eyes, like Kellen hung the moon and the stars. Kellen’s Dad, along with Gwen and Charlie started laughing at the situation. Kellen’s Mom watched over everything, her shoulders relaxing, as Casper helped with cleaning up and other things.

It wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t awful, and Kellen was glad to see that his Dad looked tired, but he looked better after being around others. He wanted to poke the bear, bring up the whole reason for this, but he was also afraid that it would send him spiraling. He didn’t want to make him spiral, he wanted to help him heal.

Gwen didn’t leave his side after she got her shower. It was one of the quickest she’d ever taken, and she was drowning in Kellen’s clothes.

He knew it was his clothes just by the look, and he was glad for it. He basically wore the same size as Rhys, but their shoulders were just slightly different. Rhys’ frame was a little bigger, but Kellen made up for it with the sheer size of most of his muscles. Kellen felt fine if his sister had borrowed his clothes, but...

There was an uneasiness to the idea of his sister wearing Rhys’ clothes. It wasn’t the time to examine that feeling, but Kellen could admit it was probably concern or jealousy. He knew his sister wasn’t like that, so it was kind of interesting to realise that he was worried about something so unlike either Rhys or his sister.

Gwen had never shown any sign that she was the kind of person who would steal another person’s partner, ever. But, he’d also never had a partner that she could steal. Rhys was also very firm in showing that Kellen was the only one for him, so he was pretty sure he was just feeling this way because it was the first time he’d ever encountered this kind of situation.

~

The evening went on, with no problems. They drank a lot of tea, no alcohol since it probably wouldn’t be a smart idea, they chatted with his parents, Casper had a good chat with Charlie, Gwen and Rhys played a few card games and Rhys kicked her ass.

She accused Rhys of cheating by using his powers and Rhys didn’t agree or deny the accusation. Gwen clearly huffed and they got into a huge, sibling-sounding argument and Kellen just watched over it fondly. As did his parents.

It was nice. This little bit of what a future could look like was nice. Now, all they needed was Gunther home, Brent home, and Hill home and this image would be perfect. Kellen liked what he saw, and from the way that his parents were whispering to each other, soft, quiet, he hoped that they liked it too. Once Gwen found a partner that she liked and decided that she wanted to introduce to them, this would help complete their little lives. Their little home.

Kellen was excited for that future.

Everyone remained around until late into the night. Charlie and Casper were the first to drop off. Charlie looked exhausted, and Casper promised that he would help him get back to his rooms before he headed off for his own. Casper and Charlie had made plans to hang out during the day so that Charlie could learn how to help.

Charlie wasn’t an idiot. He was slowly coming to the realisation that he wasn’t going to be able to Guide while he was here. Casper thought it was about time to tell him why, and why it was a big deal he was an S Class. Kellen thought it was a smart plan. Keeping him in the dark forever would only hurt him, and he appeared to be not as damaged, with a little bit more of a backbone compared to the last time.

Plus, hanging out with his Dad had helped him in many ways. Getting to watch as a man thought to be strong in one way proved that he was strong in several ways even as he crumbled had probably helped. Hopefully helped. So Kellen was in agreement.

Now it was just the family around, and Gwen wasted no time at tearing into their Dad.

"Dad." She started, all of them sitting on the couch. Rhys had insisted that Kellen leaned against him, and Kellen was quietly pleased that they were in a similar position as his parents. His Mom had her arm around her husband and Gwen sat in between the two couples. "You taught us to reach out when we were having hard times. You need to do the same." She wasn’t being mean, or harsh. She sounded more desperate than anything else.

Kellen was nodding his head in agreement. She was right. Their Dad had raised them, and that was something he had taught them. Kellen used to follow it, but had been burned a few times over time so he had stopped doing so. Gwen had never had to, and Kellen was trying to relearn it.

Kellen could feel his Dad’s gaze on him, but then he turned his gaze back to his younger daughter.

"Yes, but the two of you are just settling into the new Guild, Gwen is supposed to go off to the front lines for the first time soon for training, and I just..." He trailed off, sighing and leaning back against his wife. "I’m fine. This is just a temporary sadness. I’ll recover." He didn’t even sound sure of it himself.

"Dad. It’s okay to be sad. That’s not the complaint we have here. You’re right. We are just starting out everything. It feels new and fresh, but it wouldn’t feel right without you here as well." Kellen said. He held his tongue, wanting to yell at the other man. Why the hell would he have saved him if he didn’t want him here? If he didn’t want him around him, alive, happy, thriving?

He was sure that his Aunt Dina wasn’t doing okay. He would place bets on that, the same way he knew that she was probably smiling through her pain as she plotted to bring down the organisation that hurt her loved one. He knew that. He also knew that his Dad did know his Aunt Dina’s partner better, that they had called, hung out online, everything.

He was allowed to be sad. He just wasn’t allowed to isolate himself. Was it a bit on Gwen and Kellen for not noticing? Yes, and he would feel guilty about that for a long time, but it was also on his Dad for thinking that he couldn’t reach out to the children he had raised for support. They would have dropped everything for him, and for fucks sakes, Kellen was sleeping with the Captain of the Guild that Gwen was in.

Worse case scenario, he could use that to his advantage!

His Dad looked a little embarrassed, while his Mom just held him, her eyes full of love and understanding. Her touch gentle, kind, and Kellen and Gwen watched on as his eyes started to water.

"I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to feel like I was bothering you." Gwen was closer, and moved quickly to fall to her knees before him, taking his hands in hers as she stared up at him, her own eyes watering.

"It’s okay Dad. You aren’t bothering us."

"You aren’t a burden." Kellen echoed, the words thick on his tongue. He meant it, and his Dad’s tears just spilled over.

"I just-What am I supposed to do? Every other time I could travel, I could be with them when this happened, but I can’t this time. Because of those fucking fuckers. She won’t even let me go with your Mom, said it was too risky. She was furious when we showed up at her door. Yelled at us even as we tried to hug her and comfort her. I just don’t want Dina to be alone, and I loved Amber. She was so sweet, so kind, not a bad bone in her body. I can’t believe that she’s gone now, because of those fuckers who wanted to take me from you as well." The words spilled out of his mouth between sobs and sharp inhales.

Kellen’s hand squeezed Rhys’ thigh before he got up, and Rhys let him, knowing this was important, this was family. Rhys was also included, but he knew that this wasn’t about him. It was about Kellen’s Dad.

Kellen and his sister spent time next to him, holding him, comforting him. Kellen told his Dad that no one was allowed to be alone anymore. Not even if they were worlds apart. Kellen had reached out to Aunt Dina, spoken to her himself, and he was going to work something out with a few of the Guilds over there that they, the Saturn Guild, trusted and send her some aid.

She had no choice. No chance to argue. This was about family looking out for family, and Kellen wasn’t about to let anyone be alone again. Aunt Dina’s reaction had been extreme, likely due to the shock of the situation and Kellen was never going to hold that against her. She’d lost a woman that she loved to a terrorist organisation.

Now it was time for Kellen to show her that she was a part of the Woods family, whether she liked it or not.

Kellen was grateful he didn’t have to check in with Rhys about the decisions he was making. The man was already in agreement with him, phone out, messaging Pamela as Kellen spoke and giving him thumbs up whenever Kellen checked on him. Rhys might not be in there, hugging and crying with them, but he too was part of this family and he was going to make sure that all of the aunts and uncles he’d just inherited were safe and taken care of as well.

Kellen loved that about him. How big his heart was. How kind he was. How much he had to give, and how willing he was to give it. Kellen was going to do his best to protect that heart. Protect his family. Protect everyone.